one more

ONE paper left. I have minimal work to do on it. It's due at 5 p.m. (It's 11 a.m. now).

I. just. can't. do. it.

But it will get done, oh don't you worry.

Moved!

We are moved. I am exhausted. There is stuff in boxes everywhere, but we might take it easy tonight and watch a movie.

Tomorrow, Hal is going back to the old house to pack up the last bits of odds and ends. I have to do stats homework (stupid moving right before finals).

And, I hired a cleaning service. They are coming on Tuesday to clean the old house. I figured I didn't want to do it, and because of finals I didn't have time to do it, and because of the baby I really shouldn't be mucking around in bleach for several hours a day. And Hal figured the same (or something similar) for himself. So, although it will cost us, I figure it will be worth it. I just hope we will get the deposit back from our former landlords!

Our new place is very clean and very cute. It is smaller, but I think we'll be able to swing it (especially if someone buys the China Cabinet of Doom that we have listed on Cragislist). Luke already has the beginnings of a bedroom, although it only has a dresser and a rocking chair in it.

We were really lucky and my brother Stephen came down to help us yesterday. We got a lot done (although I wasn't much help). Even so, it still took the movers several hours to get everything loaded and unloaded. Thank goodness we have been able to save some money to hire help for all of this. We wouldn't have been able to do it ourselves.

Pictures of the new places coming soon!

Crazy Week

Last Saturday, we found out we have to move.

To MOVE. We have only been here since June!

And you all know how much FUN moving is!

Our landlord got a new job in Texas. As part of his job offer, the company will help him sell the house we live in. It's too good of a deal for him to pass up. He has been very, very nice to us in trying to make it as easy on us as possible, with Luke coming and all.

But, the bottom line is, sooner or later, within the next 6 months or so, we have to move.

So we're picking sooner.

First, there's that whole college town thing -- that if we waited to move until, say, December, there would be few options to move into. (But alas, because of the college town thing our options are a little limited at this point in the semester -- as renting season really starts to come into full swing in January or so.)

Second, there's the whole baby thing. The thought of getting all of Luke's stuff set up and then having to take it down and move it just seems a little daunting.

On Saturday, we heard the news. As of today we have seen 12 properties. They ranged from the house inhabited by 3 college boys and two pit bulls (it was probably worse than you can imagine) to the pricey condos that asked for a pet deposit of more than $1,000.

Today, I think we found a place. We'll have to turn in an application on Monday, but we're hoping it works out for us. If it does work out for us, we'll have a place that's a little smaller, but definitely cheaper, and still large enough (we hope) for us. I will give more details when it's a done deal. And if this particular place isn't a done deal, there are one or two more options that could work for us, too.

What a WEEK. It has been crazy. I'm exhausted.

And we haven't even started packing yet.

It's a....

Boy!

Luke Edward (we are 99% sure that will be his name) is coming in August/late July.

I am so professional.

This weekend was the conference in Oklahoma, where I presented two papers. The first was on sexual content, sexual themes, and sexual consequences in "Secret Life of the American Teenager."



The second was about faith healing testimonies on the internet.



(I also look really really short in this picture. I am short, of course, but I think I might even look shorter than I am.)

It was a really good conference and I am glad to get two more presentations under my belt!

the day has come

I've tried to avoid it.

I really have.

I had great hopes in the open forum. Where people could comment on my blog without having to be a member, for example.

But the spam started rolling in. It's usually Asian spam, for some reason. I suspect my Korean and Chinese classmates (just kidding). I have made it almost 3 years without too much of a problem, but as Jason pointed out, I'm starting to get more and more.

So the day has come.

I now have word verification on my comments. Hopefully that will weed out some of the spam.

Please don't let this disrupt you from commenting. I love comments. Especially when they aren't spam.

Other than the spam issue, life is going well.

Oh yeah! I suppose I should tell you all.

I am having a baby!

(That, my friends, is burying the lead.)

Mini Update

I have been Beatles rock band playing, couch potato-ing, retreat-ing, schooling, hibernating, & Christmas-ing. Lots of fun and snoozing!

Throughout it all, I've apparently NOT been blogging. I need to do better about that. My mom yelled at me tonight.

My Secret Life paper got accepted to a conference (as did another paper I wrote about faith healing and the internet -- don't ask), so I will be traveling to Oklahoma (of all places) in March. Then, the very next weekend, I'll be heading on a big boat for the cruise to the Panama canal!

While writing this, I leaned over to say hi to Layla, who is laying on the couch next to me. She licked me and PUT HER TONGUE UP MY NOSE. Ewwwwwwwwww.